Garden of Neglect

It is a garden party! I heard about Little Boy Green’s Garden Party and I wanted to join in the fun. Unfortunately, this was not really my best year for gardening, but I have no shame and wrote a post anyway.If you don’t want to look at a ton of pictures of the various states of decline that my yard is in, thanks for visiting, but just move on.

We’ve lived in our house for almost 3 years and it came with some lovely ornamental plants and bushes. I promptly ripped out several beds to make room for vegetable and herb gardens. Last year, I grew multiple types of peppers. This year, I have a baby. The photos that follow showcase the hardy, the determined, the survivors.

Front Yard/Entrance

This is the front view of the house. I love, love the color and we had it painted last year. The painter convinced us to paint the trim off-white. One coat and I knew I hated it. I wanted fresh and crisp and WHITE. There I was the crazy pregnant lady arguing with him about shades of white. I finally convinced him that I wanted white white and he painted it. And then he agreed with me. Ha.

As you approach the house, you get a view of some grasses and roses.

I love the nasturtiums growing on the opposite side of the driveway. Hubs drives right over them to park and they come back better than ever. I basically sowed a bunch of really old seeds my father-in-law found in a random container in his garage. Pretty and free!

This is the rose bush at the edge of the garage. It is getting ready to bloom in full force. This is just the beginning. These roses, there are four of them in various locations, require a ton of deadheading when in full bloom in order to bloom all summer, but it is well worth the trouble.

View from the front door, looking to the opposite side. Meh. Not a fan of this part of the yard, but I don’t know what to do with it and it hides the neighbor’s ugly wall. Well, it might be our ugly wall; I don’t know.

I love this. It is the front of the house towards the side yard. It is so overgrown and happy. It’s too bad the hydrangea isn’t in full bloom, then it is just like pink and white exploded with the hydrangea and the rose bush.

Another front view, looking toward the door.

Leading to the side yard. See that awesome fence and gate – my husband and father-in-law built it. I love it. It is exactly what I wanted.

Side Yard

Every once in awhile, we ponder ripping everything out and putting in a patio and a hot tub. But this is what it there for now.

Behind the fence. The rose is quite large, but I was too lazy to move the trashcan and get a good picture.

More Peruvian lilies and roses. And the entrance in to the backyard.

Backyard

As a warning, as we move from left to right in the back yard the neglect gets more extensive. But we will start with the awesome left side of the yard and one of the reasons we bought this house – mature trees: two huge avocados, two orange, a lemon and a tangerine.

Orange looking over the backyard. The grass is pretty narrow here and the pots on the patio will soon hold tomatoes.

This is where is starts to get significantly more neglected.

My herb garden still has oregano, lemon verbena and rosemary. I haven’t planted the basil and the mint is all dead.

Last year this section held rows of arugula, carrots and radishes. This year, two errant lettuce plants and something my father-in-law gave me. I have actually forgotten what it is.

Pretty hibiscus on the way to the depressing part.

Last year, this section held green beans, several kinds of peppers, cucumbers and an eggplant. This year, a single zucchini plant. Sadface.

I am swinging back around to end on the matilija poppy. It isn’t blooming yet. Last year we tied it back to try and keep this small stone patio usable. This year, we didn’t prune it in the fall and it is a monster. It is easily eight feet tall and will soon be covered in the most amazing flowers. If you don’t know what the blooms look like, they look like this:

Georgous.

Lastly, my mom rose. This is from a cutting I took when we were in the process of selling the house I grow up in. I took 4 cuttings from this absolutely beautiful, at least 30 year old, Peace rose. This is the only one that survived. It hasn’t bloomed yet, but they say it takes about 3 years for rose’s propegated from cuttings to bloom, so it is on track to maybe bloom this summer.

I omitted photos of the apple tree that wont grow, the lime tree with some mysterious disease, the memorial lime tree that is too skinny to photograph and the fountain with no water,. But please don’t get the wrong idea, I love my poor, neglected yard. If you are still reading, thank you for sticking with my garden tour. My hope is to have the backyard fixed up by the fall, so it can winter nice and mulched and be ready for spring planting next year.